* Asia shares flat, Nikkei loses 0.5%
* China markets open only on Monday this week
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Hideyuki Sano and Vidya Ranganathan
TOKYO/SINGAPORE, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Asian stock markets,
including China's, were little changed on Monday, shrugging off
news that the U.S. administration is considering delisting
Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.05% while China's Shanghai stock index
.SSEC slipped 0.2%, barely responding to any of the concerns
around the latest Sino-U.S. tensions that caused the Nasdaq
index .IXIC to fall more than 1% on Friday. Risk assets took a hit in U.S. trade on Friday following
news the Trump administration is considering radical new
financial pressure tactics on Beijing, including the possibility
of delisting Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges.
The report knocked Chinese shares listed on U.S. exchanges,
with Alibaba Group Holding BABA.N falling 5.15% and JD.com
JD.O 5.95% on Friday.
Worries such an escalation would hurt Japan the most however
weighed on the Nikkei .N225 , which shed 0.45%. U.S. stock
futures ESc1 gained 0.44%, paring most of Friday's 0.53% fall
in the index.
Trading in Chinese markets was quiet ahead of a long break.
Chinese share markets will trade only on Monday this week ahead
of the country's National Day holiday, which runs until Oct. 7.
There were mixed signals from China's manufacturing surveys
on Monday, which showed sustained weakness in exports and
surprising improvement in domestic consumption indicators, and a
Chinese central bank statement briefly hinting at plans for more
stimulative policies.
China's yuan CNY=CFXS was little moved at 7.1192 yuan per
dollar, while the offshore yuan CNH= rallied a bit from
Friday's three-week low of 7.1520.
The delisting of Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges
was part of a broader effort to limit U.S. investment in Chinese
companies, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.
A U.S. Treasury official said the United States does not
currently plan to stop Chinese companies from listing on U.S.
exchanges, Bloomberg reported on Saturday.
"While China runs a current account surplus and is a net
creditor nation, Chinese companies are net debtors and rely on
foreign capital," Koji Fukaya, president of Office Fukaya
Consulting.
"Washington seems to be trying to limit Chinese companies'
activities by putting pressure on their funding," he said.
Still, with trade talks between the United States and China
expected to be held Oct. 10-11, many market players are hoping
such drastic measures on capital markets will be avoided.
"At this point, markets will have to wait and see. Of course
we need to be guarded against more crazy headlines, but this
week could be a bit calmer given holidays in China. Economic
data will likely be the main driver for markets," said Kyosuke
Suzuki, director of forex at Societe Generale.
U.S. data on Friday showed consumer spending barely rose in
August and business investment remained weak, suggesting the
American economy was losing momentum as the trade dispute drags
on. Industrial output in Japan and South Korea, released Monday
morning, dropped more than expected, underscoring the headwinds
from the trade war.
Investors are also keeping a wary eye on U.S. politics.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said public opinion is now
on the side of an impeachment inquiry against Trump following
the release of new information about his conversations with
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Major currencies were little changed in early trade.
The yen traded flat at 107.94 yen JPY= .
The euro hovered around $1.0932 EUR= , having sunk to a
28-month low of $1.0904 on Friday as concerns about tepid growth
in Europe weighed on the common currency.
Sterling traded at $1.2285 GBP=D4 , not far from Friday's
low of $1.2270, its lowest since Sept. 9.
Boris Johnson said on Sunday he would not quit as Britain's
prime minister even if he fails to secure a deal to leave the
European Union, insisting only his Conservative government can
deliver Brexit on Oct. 31. Oil prices slightly rebounded after last week's slide.
Saudi Arabia's crown prince warned in an interview with CBS
program "60 Minutes" aired on Sunday that crude prices could
spike to "unimaginably high numbers" if the world does not come
together to deter Iran. But Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said he would prefer a
political solution to a military one, adding the Sept. 14
attacks on the kingdom's oil facilities were an act of war by
Iran.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose 0.05% to $6.94 a barrel
while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 gained
0.25% to $56.05 per barrel.
(Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Lincoln Feast.)